Takudzwa Victoria Rosa "Tkay" Maidza (/tiːˈkeɪ ˈmaɪdzə/ tee-KAY MY-dzə;[2] (born 17 December 1995)[1] is a Zimbabwean-born Australian singer-songwriter and hip hop artist from Adelaide, South Australia.

[2] Her father played in bands, mostly traditional Zimbabwean or African folk music, and the family used to go along and watch.

[5] Maidza graduated from St Michael's College, Henley Beach, in 2012,[6] and started studying architecture at the University of South Australia before becoming a full-time musician.

[7] She also turned her back on a promising career as a professional tennis player, having spent eight years training for it.

[10] Maidza has played Splendour in the Grass and the CMJ Music Marathon in 2014 and at the 2015 St Jerome's Laneway Festival.

[11] She performed at the Triple J "Beat the Drum" concert in 2015 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the radio station, both as a solo artist and with many other Australian guest rappers on an extended version of Hilltop Hoods' "Cosby Sweater".

[citation needed] On 30 August 2016, Maidza released single "Carry On", featuring guest vocals from US rapper Killer Mike.

[citation needed] In August 2018, Maidza released the first of a trilogy of EPs titled Last Year Was Weird.

[13][14][8] In May 2020, Maidza announced she had signed with English independent label 4AD[15] and released single "Shook" with praise from NME[16] and Rolling Stone.

with Young Franco featuring Nerve, which served as the theme song for the A-League, the Australian and New Zealand professional soccer league.

[26] Maidza said in 2016 that she admired the work of Kendrick Lamar, Santigold, Lauryn Hill, and Childish Gambino.